Packed to the Rafters

- Starts with Julie & Donna having lunch at the boat club. The girls get a taxi back home, a guy called Matt was the taxi driver and is in a band, the next scene we see him hugging Bree.

- Nathan & Ben tell Carbo & Retta that they are in their only little world, Carboretta. Carbo thinks that is fine but Retta thinks that she should have more friends as she currently only has Tina.  So she decides to organise a dinner party.

 - At the mechanics/electrician party Dave is surprised to see Warnie.  Dave is finding it tough networking. Coby is excited for the free drinks and shows up in a green suit.

- Retta has the dinner party only Tina can’t make it and also burns the dinner. Emma suggests they all play the game sherrades. Retta admits she sucks at it… but is happy when Emma says they are friends. They later go out to the roller derby (which is not shown on air).

 - Dave got a huge job offer from the night before and he learns that the Taxi driver, Matt is Coby & Bree’s uncle but with his experience with Tom he is hesitant to see him and wants to concentrate on work.

Next week on Rafters: Julie & Dave’s anniversary.

My fave family is back! Finally!

Second Chance is well giving people, second chances even if you think they don’t deserve them “if you want a second chance sometimes there is only one option: face the problem head on”. Jake

-  Trying to act normal at a family dinner proved hard for Nathan. Nathan disappeared from the table, followed by Ben, Coby then Jake. They all went to Carbo’s to discuss how to find Tom without Dave knowing anything about it. They called all the people they could think of with no luck when Coby remembered someone called Brenda.

-  The boys then went to Brenda’s place, a lady friend of Tom. Coby & Ben both spoke to Brenda but she said she hadn’t seen or heard from him recently.  This was a lie as we saw Tom there.

-  Sparks are  flying between Jake & Bree but because of Alex they are just going to be mates…for now.
-  Dave found out about Tom taking Ben’s money and was angry with Ben, Nathan and Tom.

-  Alex & Coby found out that Jake slept with Bree. Coby compared Bree to his mother which is not a good thing. Alex was very angry that Jake took the girl that he likes away from him

- Coby confessed to Dave that it was Tom who organised the robberies from inside the jail, Tom had already been given a second chance and Coby told Dave to not give him anymore. Dave took that advice and went to Brenda’s with Jake to tell Tom that to stay away from him and his family, its over.

- While watching the footy with Alex & Coby, Jake rejected a call from Bree.

2 Broke Girls, 8pm, Nine
Stick with this show. The pilot isn’t as good as the series. Outrageously crude waitress, Max meets her match when broke society princess, Caroline winds up landing a job at the same colourful Brooklyn diner. Striking an unlikely friendship, the pair hatches a plan to start their own business venture in a bid to rebuild Caroline’s wealthy reputation and reinvent Max’s broke, boring life.

Packed To The Rafters, 8.30pm, Seven
Everybody is up in arms about Tom’s disappearance with the insurance money. Coby is particularly gutted, secretly blaming himself for not being honest with the Rafters about Tom’s part in the worksite robberies.

Love and Other Drugs (Premiere), 8.30pm, showtime premiere
This unconventional love story stars Anne Hathaway as Maggie, an alluring artist who won’t let anything, including a formidable personal challenge, tie her down. But she meets her match in Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal), a charismatic underachiever who’s finally found his niche as a rep for a drug called Viagra that has just hit the market, which becomes a whose relentless and nearly infallible charm serve him well with women and in the cutthroat world of pharmaceutical sales, which becomes a cultural phenomenon.

The Big Bang Theory, 7.30pm, Nine
Leonard and Penny give dating another try, while Raj begins a rather unorthodox relationship with the virtual assistant on his phone.

One Day Series – India v Sri Lanka, 6.30pm, GEM
Wide World of Sports presents India versus Sri Lanka live from the Adelaide Oval. Join the commentary team for each ball of each over in high definition.

Quite a stable schedule now – no changes from the amended week 8.

Sunday Feb 26
6.30 Sunday Night
7.30 Border Security
8.00 The Force
8.30 Bones
9.30 Castle
10.30 Castle rpt
11.30 Forensic Investigators – Australia’s True Crimes

Monday Feb 27
7.30 My Kitchen Rules
8.30 Revenge
9.30 How I Met Your Mother
10.00 Happy Endings
10.30 Sports Fever
11.30 Parking Wars

Tuesday Feb 28
7.30 My Kitchen Rules
8.30 Packed to the Rafters
9.30 Castle – new
10.30 Criminal Minds: Suspect Behaviour – rpt
11.30 Royal Pains

Wednesday Feb 29
7.30 My Kitchen Rules
8.30 Please Marry My Boy
9.30 The Amazing Race (US) Season 20
10.30 How I Met Your Mother rpt
11.30 The Marraaige Ref

Thursday March 1
7.30 My Kitchen Rules
8.30 Grey’s Anatomy
9.30 Desperate Housewives
10.30 Private Practice
11.30 30 Rock

Friday March 2
7.30 Better Homes and Gardens
8.30 Movie TBA

Packed To The Rafters, Angus McLaren has followed his onscreen siblings Jessica Marais and Hugh Sheridan in taking “extended leave” from the family favourite.

Channel 7 confirmed this week that the part-time muso will leave half way through the upcoming series, leaving Rebecca Gibney and Erik Thomson as the only big-name originals still onboard, poor baby Ruby is the only “child” left. The show has already lost Zoe Ventoura and Jess McNamee.

Will the show be able to go on without the main characters or will viewers still watch for the likes of Ryan Corr’s, Coby and George Houvardas’ ‘Carbo’. Maybe it’s time this ratings winner went out on top before we lose all the Rafters.

Seven have released programming details to complete the first week of ratings next week.

No changes to Sunday night, with Sunday Night (Feb 12) at 6.30, Border Security and The Force from 7.30, Bones 8.30 and Castle at 9.30pm. My Kitchen Rules of course remains at 7.30pm Monday through to Thursday.

Monday night (Feb 13) at 8.30pm is the premiere of Revenge, followed by a double episode of new How I Met Your Mother from 9.30pm. Sports Fever at 10.30.

Packed to the Rafters has its two hour season premiere at 8.30pm Tuesday February 14. If you want to see last year’s final two episodes, they will be replayed at midday that Tuesday. Royal Pains in back at 11.30pm with new episodes, following a Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior repeat.

Moving to Wednesday (Feb 15), and Please Marry My Boy lands at 8.30pm, followed by another two episodes of NEW How I Met Your Mother. Two repeats of Mother follow from 10.30, with The Marriage Ref at 11.30pm.

Thursday Feb16 is the usual Grey’s Anatomy at 8.30pm, Desperate Housewives at 9.30, Private Practice at 10.30 and 30 Rock at 11.30. This line up will remain the same for a while yet.

After Better Homes and Gardens on Friday Feb 17 is the movie Forrest Gump at 9.00pm.

Saturday’s (Feb 18) movies are Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark at 6.30pm, followed by Patriot Games at 9.00pm.

Correct as at February 6, 2012.

PACKED TO THE RAFTERS RETURNS FOR 2012

Australia’s favourite family drama Packed to the Rafters is back – the new season premiering on Valentine’s Day, February 14, at 8.30pm.

Rebecca Gibney and Erik Thomson lead the cast, and are joined by Cameron Daddo and Brooke Satchwell, as the Rafters return with a wedding, new romances and family drama.

Daddo will make his return to Australian TV screens as newspaper editor Adam Goodman. Satchwell heats things up as new Rafter Electrical employee Frankie Calasso, who causes some major sparks with Coby (Ryan Corr).

Also joining the cast this year are Jacob Allen as Dave’s brother Matt Jennings, and Samantha Tolj as Sian Parry, a new love interest.

A year on from Melissa’s death, Ben (Hugh Sheridan) decides to move forward with his friendship with Emma (Zoe Cramond). Could this be the year Ben allows himself to follow his heart and find happiness again?

After eloping last year, Carbo (George Houvardas) and Retta (Hannah Marshall) find their “secret wedding” a difficult secret to keep. With his parents arriving home to organise a big Greek wedding, will they go through with another ceremony to please the family?

Nathan (Angus McLaren) finds himself at a crossroads, with a stalled career and no love on the horizon – he has some big choices to make, which will affect the family.

This year, Ted (Michael Caton) faces a major health scare, which will bring the family closer together.

Jake (James Stewart), still missing Rachel (Jessica Marais), faces more drama, as his father re-appears. And look out for a guest appearance from a Rafter favourite!

More family drama, more romance, more laughter – Rafters returns in 2012 for its biggest year yet.

Channel Seven Australian Favourite, Packed To The Rafters, has added a new cast member.

Former Blue Heelers and Home and Away star, Samantha Tolj, will play a love intrest to one of the male charachters. With Carbo and Ben having girlfriends  already – maybe this is Nathans new love after the departure of his wife, Sammy (Jessica McNamee).

Two rumoured other cast members to join this year are ex-Perfect Match host Cameron Daddo and Neighbours star and brave woman, Brooke Satchwell. It wil be great to have Brooke back on our screens!

Packed to the Rafters will Air soon on Seven.

While reality television programs dominated the ratings this year, latest Roy Morgan research has shown that only half the audience of shows such as The Block and Australia’s Got Talent are devoted viewers while dramas are attracting a more faithful crowd.

In a publication by News.com.au containing data from the report, it was revealled that a drama such as Packed To The Rafters and Downton Abbey were more likely to attract an audience that tuned into the show because of the sole reason that they liked it. For Packed To The Rafters, three quarters of its audience responded by saying they tuned in because they were a fan.

In contrast, a quarter of Australia’s Got Talent’s audience said they tuned in because ‘there was nothing else on’ while another quarter tuned in because someone else was watching it. That leaves only half an audience that tuned in for the sake of watching the show on its merit alone.

What this says is a few things. Firstly, it could indicate that dramas will have a far less great retention rate than reality shows. This means, people who watch a premiere episode of a drama would be more likely to tune in again for the next installment than people who watch a premiere of a reality television show.

It also means that dramas do better at engaging a crowd. More people are likely to discuss an episode of a drama series than a reality series; something that is particularly attractive to advertisers.

Roy Morgan Research industry director George Pesutto said reality programs that screened every week night could struggle to consistently attract an engaged audience.

Next year, Nine will be trying its hand at Tricky Business, a Shane Bourne-starring drama that is set to rival Packed To The Rafters with its bold similarities. Matched with their heavy reality slate, it is as if Nine got this information early and acted accordingly.

TEN is also set to increase its drama slate with Bikie Wars, Puberty Blues and Reef Doctors all set to debut next year. If they change their mind any time soon about Inside Out, they will also have that up their sleeve. They also have Offspring and Neighbours, which airs on ELEVEN.

Source: AdelaideNOW

Despite being the overall highest-rating show this year, Australia’s Got Talent was beaten by Packed To The Rafters and Downton Abbey in the engaged audience stakes.

The two dramas rated higher than the talent series in terms of attracting attentive and engaged audiences throughout the year, according to Roy Morgan Single Source data.

George Pesutto of Roy Morgan Research said: “Serial weekly dramas or comedies… tend to deliver a more engaged audience, whilst reality programs (particularly those that are screened every weeknight, like The Block or MasterChef) are more likely to have a higher proportion of viewers who pay some or not much attention.”

The organisation claims to look beyond the ratings and demographics in order to gauge the actual engagement the viewer has with what they are watching as well as their motivation for watching.

Packed To The Rafters proved the most popular in terms of viewers who “pay a lot of attention” with Downton Abbey close behind.

The study surveyed 18,500 people in total regarding their viewing habits.

Source: B&T.com.au